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Here I will share my travels throughout the majestic White Mountains of NH and also delve into some of the area's rich history and forgotten places. I do this in hopes of getting others excited about exploring these wonderful places.

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Mt. Crawford-Stairs Mountain area of the Davis Path was another one of the many places frequented in Our Mountain Trips that I wanted to visit. In the books, they usually continued up the trail on multi-day trips up to Mt. Washington, but I wanted to explore around this particular section.

Near the beginning of the Davis Path

It was another great day to be on the trails, the skies were blue and the temperature was perfect. The bugs thought so too, but two out of three ain’t bad. I set off on the Davis Path on the steady uphill climb to the summit of Mt.Crawford. This section is where the majority of the day’s elevation gain was to be made. It was fairly steep for a while, but not as Stairmaster-like as say the Liberty Spring Trail. The views attained from the ledges atop this peak are definitely a fantastic reward for all the effort.

View from Mt. Crawford of (L-R) Washington, Stairs, and Resolution

As usually happens with a great view, I was instantly re-energized, then set off back down the ledges, returning to the Davis Path. The nearly flat portion of this trail between the Mt. Crawford spur and the junction with Mt. Parker Trail is perhaps one of the nicest walks in the woods I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy. It seemed to fly by while I was taking in the scenery and listening to the songs of all the birds.

View of Crawford Notch from Mt. Crawford

At the junction, I took the Mt. Parker Trail up toward Mt. Resolution. The views from various points on Resolution are among many hiker's favorites, so I wanted made sure to check them all out. After stopping and taking in the view from the ledges near the main summit, I continued on the trail toward the side path to the South peak. This path was, as described in the guidebooks, very overgrown. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have located it if I hadn’t been keeping a vigilant eye off to the right side of the trail. What looked like an odd place for a waterbar drainage turned out to be the trail. I pushed off through the trees and followed this “drainage” out to the ledges. The views were incredible and it made for a great spot to relax.

View of Mt. Crawford from South peak of Mt. Resolution

After returning to the Mt. Parker Trail, I set off back up Resolution this time bound for the trailless Northeastern summit. The bushwhack out to this less-frequented spot isn’t long, but it is pretty thick in spots. The great perspective of Mt. Washington seemed to soothe the scratches though. The thick cloud of black flies out here were starving, so I took my pictures quickly and pushed off, back through the crowded conifers.

Mt. Washington and Southern Presidentials seen from Northeast summit

Once back on the trail, I headed back down toward the Davis Path, this time headed toward Stairs Mountain. Not long after I was through Stair Col (the dip between Stairs Mt. and Mt. Resolution) and climbing up to the ledges that are the top “step”.

View from Stairs Mountain

The view up here were also great, looking back over the way I had come. I soaked it in for a while and ruminated on what the people in Our Mountain Trips might have been thinking when up here, back in 1912. After a while I got ready and set off for the car, feeling like I had made a day of it.